IRAQ: U.S. Digs in for the Long Haul with Base Buildingby Joshua Hammer, Mother JonesFebruary 28th, 2005The omnipresence of the giant defense contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root, the shipments of concrete, the transformation of decrepit Iraqi military bases into fortified American enclaves­complete with Pizza Huts and DVD stores­ are just the most obvious signs that the United States has been digging in for the long haul.

IRAQ: Halliburton U.S. Army Contract Could Be Worth $6 Billion Extraby Tony Capaccio, BloombergFebruary 25th, 2005Congress in July approved a Bush administration request for $25 billion extra in fiscal 2005 and is now weighing a request for $75 billion more. Of that $100 billion, $6 billion could go to Halliburton, the world's second-biggest oilfield services company, according to the Army charts.

IRAQ: Contractor Death Total Unclearby Kirsten Scharnberg , The Chicago TribuneFebruary 24th, 2005At least 232 civilians working on U.S. military and reconstruction contracts have been killed there, many in violent but largely overlooked slayings, according to a report issued to Congress several weeks ago, but the death toll actually could be far higher.

U.S.A.: Army Awards Halliburton Bonuses for Some Iraq Workby Sue Pleming , ReutersFebruary 24th, 2005Although under scrutiny for its contracts in Iraq, Halliburton has been given bonuses for some of its work supporting the U.S. military in Kuwait and Afghanistan. The Army said KBR's performance has been rated as "excellent" to "very good" for more than a dozen "task orders" in Kuwait and Afghanistan supporting troops.

US: Ex-Boeing Finance Chief Gets Four Months in Prisonby Tony Capaccio , BloombergFebruary 18th, 2005Former Boeing official, Michael Sears, was sentenced to four months in prison for deceiving the government by offering a job to a Pentagon official while negotiating a $23 billion defense contract. Sears, 57, also was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.

IRAQ: Waste, Fraud and War
by Jim Hoagland, The Washington PostFebruary 17th, 2005The picture that emerges from multiple, overlapping inquiries into the world's management of Iraq's people and oil wealth since 1991 is appalling. It is a portrait inhabited by crooks, inept managers and ostensibly well-meaning diplomats and security experts with hidden agendas.

CHINA: An Arms Cornucopia? Europe Will Probably Lift its Embargoby John Rossant with Dexter Roberts, BusinessWeekFebruary 15th, 2005The prospect of supplying the nation with the world's fifth-largest military budget is enough to make any European defense contractor take notice. Beijing's defense outlay has been growing by 10% to 12% a year for the past decade, to an estimated $151 billion.

IRAQ: Contractor Employees Say Brutality Against Iraqis Led Them to Quitby Lisa Myers & the NBC Investigative Unit, NBC NewsFebruary 15th, 2005There are new allegations that heavily armed private security contractors in Iraq are brutalizing Iraqi civilians. In an exclusive interview, four former security contractors told NBC News that they watched as innocent Iraqi civilians were fired upon, and one crushed by a truck. The contractors worked for an American company paid by U.S. taxpayers. The Army is looking into the allegations.

IRAQ: Poor Oversight of Seized Iraqi Funds Blamed on Coalition Policyby Elise Castelli, The Los Angeles TimesFebruary 15th, 2005just two weeks after an audit by the special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction found inadequate oversight of unauthorized contracts and a loss of $9 billion in Iraqi funds, a witness told Democrats on Capitol Hill said key decisions by the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq enabled contractors to bilk billions in reconstruction funds.

IRAQ: No Shortage of Applicants Wanting to Work as War Zone Contractorsby Particia Kitchen , NewsdayFebruary 13th, 2005Despite extensive media coverage of the kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks on civilian workers, one in ten applicants for jobs with the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, remain willing to take those well-paying truck driver, food service, laundry and maintenance positions in Iraq.

SOUTH AFRICA: Eyeing Tough New Mercenary Lawsby Gordon Bell, ReutersFebruary 12th, 2005With South African mercenaries having shown up in civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, and, now being active in Iraq, South Africa will review tough new laws to try to dissuade citizens from becoming embroiled in war zones.

IRAQ: U.N. Oil-for-Food Head Blocked Auditby Desmond Butler, Asscociated PressFebruary 12th, 2005The U.N. oil-for-food program chief under scrutiny for alleged corruption and mismanagement blocked a proposed audit of his office around the same time he's accused of soliciting lucrative oil deals from Iraq, according to investigators.

U.S.: Private Armies March into Legal Vacuumby Thomas Catan , Financial TimesFebruary 10th, 2005"Private soldiers" have been operating in a legal limbo, with precious few rules governing their activities. However, a handful of legal cases in the U.S. are beginning to define the legal boundaries under which these companies can operate.

IRAQ: U.S. Army Won't Withhold Payment to Halliburtonby Sue Pleming, ReutersFebruary 3rd, 2005The U.S. Army has decided not to withold payment on disputed bills involving billions of dollars for Iraq contract work after Halliburton threatened that delays in payment could lead to an interruption of crucial support services to the U.S. military.

IRAQ: At least 232 Civilians Dead While Doing U.S. Contract Workby Sue Pleming, ReutersJanuary 30th, 2005At least 232 civilians have been killed while working on U.S.-funded contracts in Iraq and the death toll is rising rapidly, according to a U.S. government audit sent to Congress. n addition, 728 claims were filed for employees who missed more than four days of work. Several hundred more were reported from neighboring Kuwait where companies working in Iraq have logistics and support operations.

U.S.: Pentagon Struggles to Retain Elite Soldiers in Public Serviceby Tom Bowman, Baltimore SunJanuary 23rd, 2005The Pentagon is offering bonuses of up to $150,000 to keep elite commandos, such as Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, in the military and prevent them from being lured away to higher-paying jobs by private security contractors in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, defense officials said.

IRAQ: Contractor Suit Opens Doorsby Shaun Waterman, UPIJanuary 10th, 2005The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the wrongful death of security contractors. Experts warn it could set off a flood of litigation other private companies, whose unprecedented role in the Iraq conflict is opening unexplored legal territory.

IRAQ: Courts to Resolve Contractors' Deathsby Joseph Neff and Jay Price, The News & ObserverJanuary 9th, 2005Just as the courts are thrashing out the legal status and rights of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, the courts will wrestle with the responsibility and liability of private companies on the battlefield. "We do reform through litigation, not legislation."

IRAQ: Tim Spicer's Worldby Andrew Ackerman, The NationDecember 29th, 2004Not only did the Pentagon have no idea who Tim Spicer was when they gave his company a huge contract, they didn't seem to care when challenged about it. Spicer, a former British soldier has had past business ventures that include violating a UN arms embargo in Sierra Leone and unwittingly triggering a coup in Papua New Guinea. His London-based company, Aegis Defense Services, bagged a $293 million contract to protect US diplomats in Iraq.

IRAQ: Three Companies Hit Hardest by Deaths of ContractorsBloombergDecember 24th, 2004At least 181 U.S. contractors have died this year in Iraq, and more than half worked for Titan Corp., Halliburton Co. or Computer Science Corp.'s DynCorp Technical Services unit, according to U.S. Labor Department data. The number of contractor personnel deaths contrasts with 23 deaths in 2003.

IRAQ: Vulnerability of Mess Tent Was Widely Feared by Bill Nichols and Del Jones (Gannett News Service), The OlympianDecember 22nd, 2004The new dining hall being build by Halliburton was supposed to be ready by Christmas but is running behind schedule. It is believed the new reinforced mess building would have made a significant difference if it had been ready before Tuesday's attack.

IRAQ: Four Halliburton Workers from U.S. KilledAssociated PressDecember 22nd, 2004Two Texas men and two others from Oregon and Alabama were identified Wednesday as the four Halliburton Co. employees killed in the attack at a military base in Iraq, a strike that is among the deadliest for the Houston-based contractor since its involvement there.

US: The Spy Who Billed Me by Tim Shorrock , Mother JonesDecember 22nd, 2004The lines separating contractors from intelligence agencies are so blurred that at the leading trade association -- the Security Affairs Support Association (SASA) -- 8 of 20 board members are current government officials. The association represents about 125 intelligence contractors, including Boeing, CACI, General Dynamics, and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

UN: Experts Mull Over Code of Conduct for Security Firms on Front Linesby Deborah Haynes , AFPDecember 22nd, 2004A team of experts under the aegis of the United Nations is exploring proposals on possible codes of conduct for the security industry, while also discussing a new legal definition of the term "mercenary", taking into account the activities of certain private military operators.

IRAQ: RTI's Huge Project to Help Rebuild Iraq is Met by Violence and Red Tapeby Kevin Begos, Winston-Salem JournalDecember 19th, 2004A huge chunk of money was set aside for democracy building in Iraq. Funding was then cut in half to $236 million with RTI's core directive to establish local-government councils and help "identify the most appropriate 'legitimate' and functional leaders" for coalition forces to work with. After 18 months some wonder about that mission, which would soon take on deadly significance.

COLOMBIA: Protecting people or profit? by Max Jourdan , BBCDecember 14th, 2004America's privatised military machine is at the heart of the war on drugs in Colombia. Defence corporations hired by the US government enjoy extremely lucrative contracts, but who is responsible when something goes wrong?

IRAQ: Reconstruction Deal With a 'Merchant of Death'?by Michael Isikoff, Newsweek/MSNBCDecember 13th, 2004Texas air charter firm allegedly controlled Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout was making repeated flights to Iraq—courtesy of a Pentagon contract allowing it to refuel at U.S. military bases. One reason for the flights, sources say, was that the firm was flying on behalf of Kellogg Brown & Root, the division of Halliburton hired to rebuild Iraq's oilfields.

IRAQ: How Harris Became a Major Media Playerby Noelle C. Haner , Orlando Business JournalDecember 12th, 2004Nearly a year and a great deal of controversy later, many media observers are wondering why the federal government awarded a $96 million contract to a company with little journalism background to run the Iraqi Media Network. Some suggest simple politics may be the reason.

USA: Boeing Tanker Deal Rigged from the Beginningby Editorial, The Washington PostNovember 28th, 2004The pile of internal e-mails show an Air Force leadership more bent on stifling dissenting views from within than on determining the best deal for taxpayers and inappropriately cozy with some contractors and personally biased against others.

U.N.: Annan's Son Took Payments Through 2004by Claudia Rosett, New York SunNovember 26th, 2004For more than eight years, from 1995-2004, the secretary-general's son was in one way or another on the payroll of Cotecna, which for almost five of those years held a key oil-for-food inspection contract with the U.N. Secretariat.

USA: Gamers Get a Taste of Playing MercenaryIGN InsiderNovember 25th, 2004LucasArts and Pandemic Studios are endeavoring to lure gamers into something a little different, you take on the role of a private military man who engages in a search for the "Deck of 52," the sum of dangerous and/or politically influential members of the government.

AFGHANISTAN: Private Prison Operators Appeal in CourtDaily Times/Pakistan/AFPNovember 25th, 2004The group’s ringleader leader, Jonathan “Jack” Idema, cursed reporters as he arrived at a court in the Afghan capital, dressed in military-style khaki trousers and shirt and dark sunglasses. “The press lies. None of you tell the truth,” Idema, 48, said as he entered the closed-door hearing.

AFRICA: Thatcher Feels Like a 'Corpse in a River' by Lech Mintowt-czyz And Luke Leitch, Evening StandardNovember 24th, 2004Sir Mark Thatcher said his life had been "destroyed" by charges that he helped finance a failed African coup. The son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher said he felt like a "corpse floating in the river" in the face of the case against him.

IRAQ: Silence Surrounds Fates of Contractorsby David Ivanovich, Houston ChronicleNovember 21st, 2004Halliburton Co. truck drivers Tim Bell and Bill Bradley disappeared April 9 when their convoy was attacked west of Baghdad. The Army has conducted an investigation into the ambush, but the report is classified. Pentagon officials refused to discuss its contents, directing questions to Halliburton. The company referred questions back to the Pentagon.

IRAQ: Contractor Deaths Grow in Iraq by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News November 21st, 2004Total death insurance claims by contractors in Iraq have risen more than sixfold from 2003, U.S. government figures show, as nearly as many civilians are working overseas as soldiers.

SCOTLAND: Contract 1030484 Turned Oil into Goldby Calum MacDonald, The HeraldNovember 16th, 2004The Weir Group admitted in July to £4.3m worth of irregular payments amounting to an 11.5% mark-up on contracts worth £36.5m. It is still unable to account for the money, which is suspected of having lined the pockets of go-betweens and may have ended up in the hands of Saddam Hussein.

USA: A Watchdog Follows the Money in Iraqby Erik Eckholm, The New York TimesNovember 15th, 2004As former officials describe it, some officers regarded Bunnatine H. Greenhouse as a stickler for cumbersome rules on things like sharing contracts with small businesses and ensuring open competition for bids.

USA: Long Fall for Pentagon Procurement Star
by Renae Merle, The Washington PostNovember 14th, 2004When at the peak of her power as a top Air Force weapons buyer, Darleen Druyun helped direct the Air Force's $30 billion procurement budget. Last month she stunned military and industry leaders by admitting that she gave Boeing preferential treatment for years before taking a job with the company.

IRAQ: British Security Firm 'Abused Scared Iraqi Boy'
by Antony Barnett and Patrick Smith, The GuardianNovember 14th, 2004Pictures show two Erinys employees restraining the 16-year-old Iraqi with six car tyres around his body. The photographs, taken last May, show the boy frozen with fear in a room where the wall appeared to be marked by bullet holes.

AFGHANISTAN: 'Luxury' Cell in Jail for Convicted Bounty Hunter by Colin Freeman, The ScotsmanNovember 14th, 2004Convicted of illegal bounty-hunting in Afghanistan, ex-US soldier Jonathan ‘Jack’ Idema and his two American co-defendants live in relative luxury. Their apartment-style suite is complete with satellite TV, Persian carpets, private bathroom and kitchen and rumours are now circulating that they will be freed in a deal between Washington and the Afghan government.

USA: Seeking the Edge as Government Doles Out Contracts by Elizabeth Williamson, The Washington PostNovember 14th, 2004Defense spending on outside contracts totaled more than $200 billion last year. It can take years for a firm to become eligible for government work and some say the best way to make government connections is to hire them. "You have to hire people from these organizations in the hope that their connections will bring you business," says one contractor.

U.S.: New Bribes Scandal at Halliburton by John Sterlicchi, Evening StandardNovember 9th, 2004Halliburton says its staff may have paid bribes to Nigerian officials to secure a $4 billion contract in the 1990s. The company says the Justice Department is also investigating payments in connection with bidding practices on certain foreign projects.
which dismissed Stanley as a consultant earlier this year, said the Justice Department was also investigating whether Stanley 'received payments in connection with bidding practices on certain foreign projects'.

PHILIPPINES: Workers Sent to Iraq Unaware of Ban?by Sandy Araneta, Philippine Headline NewsNovember 7th, 2004Nineteen Filipino workers (returning from Iraq knew their country banned deployment to the strife-torn country, but like contestants at the once popular game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," they needed to be prompted for the precise month when the ban was imposed.

U.S.: Let FBI Get To Bottom Of Halliburton Dealby Sun-Sentinel, Editorial BoardNovember 6th, 2004Even if all had been above board, and that apparently hasn't been the case, Halliburton's role in Iraq left the United States open to criticism that its war effort had wrongly profited a multinational corporation because of the vice president's connection.

IRAQ: Audit Can't Find Billions by Bryan Bender, The Boston GlobeOctober 16th, 2004The audit found serious gaps in how the Development Fund for Iraq -- a pool of money drawn from Iraqi oil revenues and international aid -- was handled by American occupation officials responsible for funding reconstruction projects.

EQUATORIAL GUNIEA: American military Officials Linked to Failed Coup Plotby David Leigh, David Pallister and Jamie Wilson, GuardianSeptember 29th, 2004Theresa Whelan, a member of the Bush administration in charge of African affairs at the Pentagon, twice met a London-based businessman, Greg Wales, in Washington before the coup attempt. Mr Wales has been accused of being one of its organisers, but has denied any involvement.

IRAQ: Many Foreign Laborers Receive Inferior Pay, Food and Shelterby Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington PostJuly 1st, 2004The war in Iraq has been a windfall for Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., the company that has a multibillion-dollar contract to provide support services for U.S. troops. Its profits have come thanks to the hard work of people like Dharmapalan Ajayakumar, who until last month served as a kitchen helper at a military base.

Iraq: CACI Probed on Keeping Future Government Contractsby Chelsea Emery, ReutersMay 27th, 2004Federal officials are investigating whether employees of defense contractor CACI International Inc. were involved in prisoner abuse in Iraq and whether the company should remain eligible for government contracts, CACI said on Thursday.

Iraq: Titan's Army contract under reviewby Bruce V. Bigelow, San Diego Union-TribuneMay 27th, 2004The Army command that hired San Diego's Titan Corp. to provide Arabic linguists to units in Iraq is evaluating whether the lucrative contract should be awarded to another company.

Iraq: Army Contract Again Disputed
by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles TimesMay 26th, 2004The U.S. Army has, for the second time, awarded a contract to supply the Iraqi security forces to a consortium of companies with little arms experience and whose participants include a friend of controversial Iraqi official Ahmad Chalabi.

US: Probe into Iraq trafficking claimsby Elise Labott, CNNMay 5th, 2004The United States is investigating reports Indian nationals were victims of human trafficking to Iraq and mistreated while working there as contractors in U.S. military camps, the State Department has said.

Iraq: Contractors Implicated in Prison Abuse Remain on the Jobby Joel Brinkley and James Glanz, New York TimesMay 4th, 2004More than two months after a classified Army report found that two contract workers were implicated in the abuse of Iraqis at a prison outside Baghdad, the companies that employ them say that they have heard nothing from the Pentagon, and that they have not removed any employees from Iraq.

Iraq: CACI to Open Probe of Workers by By Renae Merle and Ellen McCarthy, Washington PostMay 3rd, 2004Defense contractor CACI International Inc. said yesterday it launched an independent investigation of its employees in connection with allegations that Iraqi detainees were abused by U.S. soldiers at an Army-run prison in Iraq.

Iraq: Prisoner Abuse Appears More Extensive
by T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles TimesMay 2nd, 2004At least one Iraqi prisoner died after interrogation, some were threatened with attack dogs and others were kept naked in tiny cells without running water or ventilation, according to an account written by a military police sergeant who is one of six U.S. soldiers charged in a growing scandal over prisoner abuse in Iraq.

Iraq: Prison Workers Questionedby T. Christian Miller and Greg Miller, Los Angeles TimesMay 1st, 2004CACI International of Arlington, Va., said the employees had
volunteered to be interviewed in a case in which six U.S. soldiers have been charged with sexually and physically abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

Iraq: US Military in Torture Scandal by Julian Borger, Guardian, U.K.April 30th, 2004The scandal has also brought to light the growing and largely unregulated role of private contractors in the interrogation of detainees.

Iraq: No Guns for Contractors, Pentagon is Proposingby Seth Borenstein, Philadelphia InquirerApril 29th, 2004As the insurgency in Iraq remains strong, the Department of Defense has proposed a new rule for most of the estimated 70,000 civilian contractors working in the region: They cannot carry guns.

Iraq: Cellular Project Leads to U.S. Inquiryby T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles TimesApril 29th, 2004A senior Defense Department official is under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for allegations that he attempted to alter a contract proposal in Iraq to benefit a mobile phone consortium that includes friends and colleagues, according to documents obtained by The Times and sources with direct knowledge of the process.

US: Probe of Boeing, Documents Expandedby Renae Merle, Washington PostApril 28th, 2004A criminal investigation into whether Boeing Co. used stolen Lockheed Martin Corp. documents to win an Air Force contract has grown to include an examination of NASA contract competitions, sources close to the inquiry said yesterday.

US: Lockheed Profit Rises 16% on Missiles, JetsBloomberg NewsApril 28th, 2004Lockheed Martin Corp., the biggest U.S. military contractor, said Tuesday that first-quarter profit climbed 16%, buoyed by spending on Patriot missiles used in Iraq and funding to develop new jets.

IRAQ: 10 US Contractors Penalized
by Matt Kelley, Associated PressApril 26th, 2004Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage.

US: Court Documents Unsealed in Northrop Grumman CaseAssociated PressApril 22nd, 2004Northrop Grumman Corp., the nation's third-largest defense contractor, lied to the Air Force about the readiness of its radar-jamming equipment in the late 1980s, according to recently unsealed court documents from a whistle-blower case against the company.

Iraq: Families Grieve After Halliburton Contract Workers Identified by Kristen Hays, Associated PressApril 21st, 2004The bodies of the two men and a third American contractor, Jack Montague, were found last week near the site of an April 9 attack on a fuel convoy west of Baghdad, Houston-based Halliburton announced Tuesday. A fourth, unidentified, victim was also found.

US: Bechtel's 2003 Revenue Breaks Company Record by David R. Baker, San Francisco ChronicleApril 20th, 2004Bechtel Corp., the San Francisco engineering giant rebuilding Iraq, today will report record revenue of $16.3 billion in 2003, reversing a three- year slide.

US: Boeing Turns to New CEO and the Pentagon
by Julie Creswell, FortuneApril 19th, 2004The aerospace giant saw its blue-chip reputation and cherished status as an innovator flipped upside down last year. Two of its top executives became entangled in an ethics investigation by the Pentagon, while other employees faced criminal charges involving industrial espionage. The government penalized Boeing by canceling rocket launches valued at about $ 1 billion and is holding up a $ 17 billion aerial tanker contract.
Furthermore, Boeing infuriated investors with a billion-dollar surprise charge last summer. And underlying this sorry litany was a simpler, larger problem: In 2003, for the first time, Boeing sold fewer planes than the other global aviation superpower, Europe's Airbus Industrie.

Iraq: Security Firm Will Hire a Nightclub Bouncerby Bernard Ginns and John Bynorth, Mail on Sunday, LondonApril 18th, 2004The lives of contractors in Iraq are being put at risk by security firms prepared to employ untrained staff, a Mail on Sunday investigation reveals.

Iraq: Companies Wait for the Smoke to Clearby Tim Webb and Clayton HirstApril 18th, 2004Iraq was supposed to provide rich pickings, with billions of dollars' worth of contracts up for grabs. But as kidnappings and killings undermine security still further, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst ask if the reconstruction effort is about to unravel

Iraq: KBR contractors weigh heavy risks by Jenalia Moreno and Bill Hensel Jr. , Houston ChronicleApril 14th, 2004For more than a week, KBR officials have tried to prepare new hires like Michael Tovar, 29, for the risks they'll face as contractors in Iraq.

Iraq: More Limits Sought for Private Security Teams by Mary Pat Flaherty and Dana Priest, Washington PostApril 13th, 2004With an estimated 20,000 private security workers on the ground, the Coalition Provisional Authority is increasingly concerned about the quality of the security teams, the weapons they use and the rules that will govern them after June 30, when the authority transfers political power to an interim Iraqi government.

US: C-130’s Costs Soar Despite Reforms by David Phinney, Defense NewsApril 12th, 2004The Pentagon had high hopes it could keep costs low on a new model of the C-130 transport by treating it like any other commercial purchase, but despite the publicly intended purpose, the airlifter’s price nearly doubled.

US: A Case of Reprisal Against One Pentagon Auditorby David Phinney, Federal TimesApril 12th, 2004Last year, Ken Pedeleose and two colleagues wrote a 90-page report, cross-referenced with hundreds of documents and correspondence, accusing DCMA officials and the Pentagon of routinely bypassing administrative safeguards. The report was delivered to more than 50 members of Congress.

Iraq: Seven U.S. Civilian Contract Workers Missingby John F. Burns and Kirk Semple, New York TimesApril 12th, 2004BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 12 — The American military today put at seven the number of civilian contract workers missing after their convoy was ambushed in Iraq on Friday.

Iraq: Bush Conceals Names of U.S. Firms That Paid Kickbacks to Saddam
by Lawrence M. O'Rourke, McClatchy NewspapersApril 8th, 2004Saddam Hussein siphoned off $10.1 billion from Iraq's oil-for-food program through illegal oil contracts and kickback deals with private suppliers of food and medicine, a congressional agency said Wednesday. John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Bush administration can identify the private business firms that cut kickback deals with Saddam Hussein, but intends to keep the names secret.

Iraq: Security Firms Form World's Largest Private 'Army' by Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington PostApril 8th, 2004Under assault by insurgents and unable to rely on U.S. and coalition troops for intelligence or help under duress, private security firms in Iraq have begun to band together in the past 48 hours, organizing what may effectively be the largest private army in the world, with its own rescue teams and pooled, sensitive intelligence.

UK: BAE Chairman 'Close' to Accused Executive by David Leigh and Rob Evans, Guardian (London)April 7th, 2004Sir Dick Evans, the chairman of BAE Systems, had close personal links with the arms firm executive accused of providing free holidays and gifts for a Ministry of Defence official, it was alleged last night. Tony Winship, a former BAE employee, is the executive at the centre of allegations revealed in yesterday's Guardian that a BAE slush fund paid for a series of unauthorised luxury hotel stays for a civil servant in the MoD's arms sales unit.

US: Diminished Oversight Leads to Overpricingby David Phinney, Federal TimesApril 5th, 2004Ken Pedeleose’s eyes popped in awe as he plowed through a bill for airplane parts in 1999: $2,522 for a 4½-inch metal sleeve, $744 for a washer, $714 for a rivet, and $5,217 for a 1-inch metal bracket.

US: Blackwater Mercenaries Take Risks for Right Priceby James Dao, Eric Schmitt, and John F. Burns, New York TimesApril 2nd, 2004Here, at the 6,000-acre training ground of Blackwater U.S.A., scores of former military commandos, police officers and civilians are prepared each month to join the lucrative but often deadly work of providing security for corporations and governments in the toughest corners of the globe. On Wednesday, four employees of a Blackwater unit -- most of them former American military Special Operations personnel -- were killed in an ambush in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets by chanting crowds.

Iraq: RTI Wins Another Contract for Government Creationby Jay Price, News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)April 1st, 2004The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded RTI International a one-year contract extension worth up to $154 million to foster democratic local government in Iraq, a company executive said Wednesday. With a handover of power from the United States to an Iraqi government scheduled for June, the nonprofit institute's second year in Iraq will be crucial, said Ron Johnson, RTI's vice president for international development.

Japan: Arms Export Ban To Be Revisitedby Mariko Sanchanta, Financial TimesApril 1st, 2004Japan's decision to dispatch troops from its self-defence force to southern Iraq has marked a watershed inthe country's postwar history and jarred the pacifist roots of its constitution.
But while Japan may now be shipping its soldiers to Samawah, it still struggles to export Japanese-made weapons. A four-decade ban on the sale of weapons abroad has left the country's defence industry largely impotent on the world stage.

Iraq: Trade Fair Postponed Over Security Fearsby Joshua Chaffin and Salamander Davoudi, Financial TimesApril 1st, 2004The deteriorating security situation in Iraq has prompted the postponement of a US-led trade fair aimed at accelerating reconstruction in the country amid heightening concerns about the safety of foreign civilians working there. Organisers of Destination Baghdad Expo, that was due to begin on Monday, postponed the event following the gruesome killings on Wednesday of four western contract workers in the city of Falluja.

Iraq: Soldiers of Fortune Rush to Cash in on Unrest
by James Hider, Times (London)April 1st, 2004In Iraq, the postwar business boom is not oil. It is security. In a country shaken by guerrilla warfare, crime and terrorism, where the United States is handing out almost $ 20 billion (£11 billion) in reconstruction contracts, thousands of well-armed private security contractors are making a fortune.

Afghanistan/Iraq: Weary Special Forces Quit for Security Jobsby David Rennie and Michael Smith, Daily Telegraph (London)March 31st, 2004Exhausted American and British special forces troopers, the West's front line in the war on terrorism, are resigning in record numbers and taking highly-paid jobs as private security guards in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senior US commanders are so alarmed that they have held emergency meetings to agree new deals on pay and conditions for the men.

Iraq: Rebuilding Plan Reviewedby Jackie Spinner and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington PostMarch 31st, 2004The new inspector general of the U.S.-led interim authority in Iraq reported yesterday that though he is just beginning his own audits of reconstruction spending, he is concerned about the oversight of spending and control of cash.

Iraq: Security Pushes Up Contract Costsby Sue Pleming, ReutersMarch 31st, 2004Soaring security and insurance costs are driving up the price of contracts to rebuild Iraq and more funds may be needed, said a report on Wednesday by the U.S.-led authority's chief inspector in Iraq.

US: Former McKesson CFO Indicted in Fraud
by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 31st, 2004The former chief financial officer of San Francisco health care giant McKesson Corp. was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury for his role in a huge criminal securities fraud that wiped out $9 billion of shareholder value five years ago.

Iraq: Parsons Corp. Wins $900 Million ContractReutersMarch 30th, 2004California's Parsons Corp., one of the most active U.S. companies in Iraq, said on Tuesday it won a contract worth up to $900 million from the U.S. military for security and justice work in Iraq. The privately-owned engineering and construction company said the latest deal includes the restoration and construction of bases for the Iraqi security forces, police stations, border control stations, fire stations, courthouses and prisons.

Iraq: Halliburton Continues to Profitby Matt Kelley, Associated PressMarch 30th, 2004Halliburton Co. has reaped as much as $6 billion in contracts from the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but improprieties in those military contracts have also given Vice President Dick Cheney's former company high-profile headaches. Pentagon auditors have criticized Halliburton's estimating, spending and subcontracting, and they plan to begin withholding up to $300 million in payments next month. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of overcharges, bribes and kickbacks. Democrats have accused the company of war profiteering.

Iraq: Global Security Firms Fill in as Private Armies by Robert Collier, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 28th, 2004The shootout was just one more example of the behind-the-scenes role played in Iraq by an estimated 15,000 private security agents from the United States, Britain and countries as varied as Nepal, Chile, Ukraine, Israel, South Africa and Fiji. They are employed by about 25 different firms that are playing their part in Iraq's highly dangerous postwar environment by performing tasks ranging from training the country's new police and army to protecting government leaders to providing logistics for the U.S. military. 15,000 agents patrol the violent streets of Iraq.

Iraq: Facing $310 Billion Debt Crisis
Observer (London)March 28th, 2004Iraq is heading for economic meltdown under the weight of its $ 310 billion international debt and reparations bill. Attempts by the International Monetary Fund to reduce it are insufficient and will block Iraq's long-term reconstruction. Financial meltdown could come despite increased oil revenues.

Equatorial Guinea: Mercenary Tells How Coup Went Wrong
by Tom Walker, Sunday Times (London)March 28th, 2004A former SAS soldier languishing in a Zimbabwean jail has confessed to numerous failures in his attempt to lead a group of mercenaries in overthrowing the president of Equatorial Guinea. In a 13-page handwritten statement, Simon Mann describes how he hoped to convince the Harare authorities to let him and his men pass through Zimbabwe.

UK: Pentagon Warns British Contractorsby David Gow, Guardian (London)March 27th, 2004The Pentagon yesterday warned British firms winning contracts under its $ 18.4bn (£10bn) Iraqi reconstruction programme that they would be thrown out if they failed to give a minimum 10% of the work to US small businesses.

US: Halliburton Lobby Costs Dropby Maud S. Beelman, Boston GlobeMarch 27th, 2004Halliburton, the oil and construction conglomerate formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, dramatically reduced what it spent on lobbying Congress and the federal government after the Bush-Cheney administration took office in January 2001.

Iraq: SAIC Pays DOD Settlementby Rachel Sams, Baltimore Business JournalMarch 25th, 2004
Defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. has agreed to pay $484,500 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act when designing a computer system program for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Iraq: Report Rips SAIC Over Contractsby Bruce V. Bigelow, Union-TribuneMarch 25th, 2004In a scathing report yesterday, the Pentagon's inspector general sharply criticized contracts issued last year to San Diego's SAIC for reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.

US: Lockheed In Raptor Deal With Pentagonby Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial TimesMarch 24th, 2004Lockheed Martin on Tuesday reached an agreement to sell 22 Raptor jet fighters to the US air force after the Pentagon decided to proceed with operational testing of the controversial aircraft next month.

Iraq: Violence Slows Bechtel in Iraq by David R. Baker, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 23rd, 2004Violence has slowed or interrupted work at approximately 10 percent of Bechtel Corp.'s reconstruction sites in Iraq, government and company representatives said Thursday. Two of its subcontractors forced to curtail or suspend operations at hostile sites.

Haiti: Companies Covet Post-War Rebuilding Contractsby Rick Westhead, Toronto StarMarch 23rd, 2004Nation-rebuilding projects in countries such as Iraq, the Congo and Haiti have spawned a growing industry as private-sector companies compete to win contracts to aid in the rebuilding efforts. Some analysts say the business now generates as much as $200 billion (U.S.) a year.

Iraq: Nour USA Ltd's Delivery Delaysby Tom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, New York TimesMarch 22nd, 2004Senior American commanders in Iraq are publicly complaining that delays in delivering radios, body armor and other equipment have hobbled their ability to build an effective Iraqi security force that can ultimately replace United States troops here.

US: Carlyle Stands to Profit from Disasterby David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle March 21st, 2004The Washington investment firm, run by a who's who of Republican heavyweights, including former Secretary of State James Baker and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, has put money into about 300 different companies and properties.
Those investments include United Defense Industries, a maker of combat vehicles, naval guns and missile launchers; and Sippican, a maker of submarine systems and countermeasures to protect warships

UK: Whitehall Warns UK Firms to Stop Sending Workers to Iraqby Severin Carrell, Tim Webb and Clayton Hirst, The Independent (London)March 18th, 2004British businesses hoping to win lucrative deals in Iraq have been told to scrap their plans to travel there because of the escalating violence against Westerners.

Iraq: IFC Plans to Venture into Iraq by June by Sandhya D'mello, Khaleej Times Online March 14th, 2004nternational Finance Corporation (IFC) is planning to venture into Iraq by June this year. The transaction is reported to be in the form of an equity or loan in small and medium enterprise, this was confirmed yesterday by Mr Assaad J Jabre, Vice-President Operations, IFC (The World Bank Group).

US: SF Firm Awarded Contract in Iraqby David R. Baker, San Francisco ChronicleMarch 12th, 2004The Pentagon has begun doling out $5 billion in new contracts to rebuild Iraq, and a San Francisco firm partially owned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband has landed some of the cash. URS Corp. will oversee repairs to Iraq's communications system, hospitals and courthouses under contracts worth a total of $27.7 million.

US: Report Finds Halliburton Violated Contracting Rulesby Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder March 11th, 2004Halliburton, the big contractor that's won the lion's share of government contracts to rebuild Iraq, significantly and systematically violated federal contracting rules by providing inaccurate and incomplete information about its own costs, according to a special report by Defense Department auditors.

Iraq: Lukoil Chief Says Prewar Deal Still Validby Matt Moore, Associated Press/Boston GlobeMarch 11th, 2004The head of Russia's Lukoil said Thursday that a lucrative prewar deal to produce oil in Iraq is still valid, but conceded that its fate hinges on the decision of the new government due to take power on June 30.

Iraq: Report Finds Halliburton Violated Contracting Rulesby Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Washington BureauMarch 11th, 2004Halliburton, the big contractor that's won the lion's share of government contracts to rebuild Iraq, significantly and systematically violated federal contracting rules by providing inaccurate and incomplete information about its own costs, according to a special report by Defense Department auditors.

US: Roche Bails Out for Top Army Job Amid Scandalby Esther Schrader, Los Angeles TimesMarch 11th, 2004Air Force Secretary James G. Roche, whose nomination to head the Army had been stalled in Congress since summer over a controversial $27-billion deal with Boeing Co. and an Air Force Academy sexual assault scandal, withdrew his name Wednesday from consideration for the post.

US: General Dynamics Subpoenaed Over Long Island Plantby Anitha Reddy, Washington PostMarch 6th, 2004The U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York has subpoenaed General Dynamics Corp. about a New York factory it believes may have falsely certified that parts for U.S. Navy submarines were properly tested.

Unearthing Democratic Root to Halliburton Flap
by Al Kamen, Washington PostMarch 5th, 2004Truly there is nothing new under the sun. In recent months Democrats have been bleating about fat Iraq construction contracts going to Halliburton, about Halliburton's ties to the administration because Vice President Cheney happened to run the company just before taking his current job and a shocking GOP tendency to help contributors.

Chile: US Contractor Recruits Guards for Iraq in South Americaby Jonathan Franklin, Guardian (London)March 5th, 2004The US is hiring mercenaries in Chile to replace its soldiers on security duty in Iraq. A Pentagon contractor has begun recruiting former commandos, other soldiers and seamen, paying them up to $4,000 (2,193) a month to guard oil wells against attack by insurgents.

US: Court Revives GE Challenge of Superfund Law by Devlin Barrett, Associated PressMarch 4th, 2004A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 1980 Superfund law that allows the government to assess polluters for cleaning up toxic waste sites.

World: Donor Countries Study Iraq CostsMelbourne AgeFebruary 28th, 2004In Abu Dhabi, representatives of some 40 donor countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, as well as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations, prepared to kick off a two-day conference on rebuilding post-war Iraq.

Congressional Inquiry Necessary for War ProfiteeringCampaign to Stop the War ProfiteerersFebruary 25th, 2004The Pentagon and State Department criminal fraud investigations of Halliburton concerning their handling of a fuel contract in Iraq are an important first step - but point to the need for bold action on the part of the President and Congress to ensure accountability of military contractors, according to the Campaign to Stop the War Profiteers.

US: Army cancels Comanche helicopter project
The Associated Press February 24th, 2004In a dramatic about-face, the Army canceled its Comanche helicopter program Monday after sinking $6.9 billion and 21 years of effort into producing a new-generation chopper.

Iraq: Pentagon Opens Criminal Inquiry of Halliburtonby Richard A. Oppel Jr., New York TimesFebruary 24th, 2004Pentagon officials said Monday night that they have opened a criminal fraud investigation of Halliburton, the giant Texas oil-services concern, in an inquiry that will examine "potential overpricing" of fuel taken into Iraq by one of the company's subcontractors.

Contractors are Cashing in on the War on TerrorWorld Policy InstituteFebruary 24th, 2004"With the Pentagon budget at $400 billion per year and counting, plus a new Department of Homeland Security with a $40 billion per year budget, plus wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have cost $180 billion to date, these are lucrative times to be a military contractor."

Iraq: RTI Designing Government for Baghdadby Naomi Klein, NationFebruary 23rd, 2004On March 4, 2003, with the invasion just fifteen days away, the United States Agency for International Development asked three US firms to bid for a unique job: After Iraq was invaded and occupied, one company would be charged with setting up 180 local and provincial town councils in the rubble. This was newly imperial territory for firms accustomed to the friendly NGO-speak of "public-private partnerships," and two of the three decided not to apply. The "local governance" contract, worth $167.9 million in the first year and up to $466 million total, went to the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), a private nonprofit best known for its drug research. None of its employees had been to Iraq in years.

World: Making Money on Terrorismby William Hartung, NationFebruary 23rd, 2004We all know that Halliburton is raking in billions from the Bush Administration's occupation and rebuilding of Iraq. But in the long run, the biggest beneficiaries of the Administration's "war on terror" may be the "destroyers," not the rebuilders. The nation's "Big Three" weapons makers--Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman--are cashing in on the Bush policies of regime change abroad and surveillance at home.

US: Pentagon's Changing Priorities Challenge Lockheedby Renae Merle, Washington PostFebruary 23rd, 2004Lockheed's stranglehold on the military aircraft market is based on two planes, the F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, both frequently lambasted by members of Congress for their technological problems and growing budgets. While Lockheed dominates the fighter market, it is not secure with unmanned drones, which many experts consider the future of military aviation. And the Pentagon is thinking about radical new ways of changing warfare that could threaten Lockheed's dominance.

Ivory Coast: British Mercenaries Follow Diamond Moneyby James Astill, Guardian (London)February 22nd, 2004Executive Outcomes drew international attention to the industry, worth an estimated £30bn a year in the late 90s, by fighting for the besieged governments of Angola and Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone the British mercenary company Sandline International broke a UN arms embargo, allegedly with British government approval.

US: American Companies in Iraq Starting from Ground Upby Joel BrinkleyFebruary 22nd, 2004When government contractors took on the task of rebuilding Iraq's hospital system last year, they were distressed to learn that nursing staffs no longer existed. Under Saddam Hussein, the contractors discovered, hospitals were forced to fire all their nurses to save money.

USA: Halliburton Stops Billing U.S. for Meals Served to Troopsby Eric Schmitt, New York TimesFebruary 17th, 2004Seeking to defuse a growing election-year issue, the Halliburton Company said Monday that it had stopped billing the Pentagon for the cost of feeding American troops in Iraq and Kuwait until a dispute over the number of meals served is resolved.

US: Presidential Helicopter Warby John Machacek, Gannett News ServiceFebruary 17th, 2004Lockheed Martin, one of the world's largest aerospace and defense contractors, had begun running full-page ads in newspapers and at subway stops near the Pentagon as part of an all-out lobbying campaign to oust tiny Sikorsky as the presidential helicopter builder.

Iraq: Ex-Minister Says US Mismanaging Iraqi Oilby Barbara Shook, Oil DailyFebruary 16th, 2004Former Iraqi oil minister Issam al-Chalabi charged Tuesday that
the US-led occupation forces and the Coalition of Provisional Authority (CPA) -- aided by units of Houston-based energy services company Halliburton -- are continuing the mismanagement of Iraqi's oil fields that was begun under former leader Saddam Hussein to the detriment of the Iraqi people.

Iraq: Start-up Company with Connectionsby Knut Royce, New York NewsdayFebruary 15th, 2004U.S. authorities in Iraq have awarded more than $400 million in contracts to a start-up company that has extensive family and, according to court documents, business ties to Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon favorite on the Iraqi Governing Council.

Colombia: Private U.S. Operatives on Risky Missionsby Juan Forero, New York TimesFebruary 14th, 2004The three Americans -- Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes -- worked cloaked in secrecy for two subsidiaries of Northrop Grumman, the huge military contractor, in an arrangement used increasingly by the United States government in conflict zones from Colombia to Afghanistan. The men's families and critics of American policy here say the case sheds light on a shadowy world of secret operations that employ private contractors in deals that make it easy to skirt public scrutiny and for all to wash their hands if something goes wrong.

US: Ex-Halliburton Workers Allege Rampant Wasteby T. Christian Miller, Los Angeles Times February 13th, 2004Halliburton has systematically wasted U.S. taxpayer dollars in its operations in Iraq and Kuwait, according to two of the company's former employees who have spoken to congressional investigators.

Iraq: Watchdog Presses US To Name Oil AuditorsReutersFebruary 13th, 2004An international watchdog overseeing how Iraq's oil money is spent during the U.S.-led occupation pressed the U.S. authorities on Friday to finalize the appointment of auditors so its work can begin in earnest.

US: What Did the Vice-President Do for Halliburton?by Jane Mayer, The New YorkerFebruary 10th, 2004Halliburton blamed the high costs on an obscure Kuwaiti firm, Altanmia Commercial Marketing, which it subcontracted to deliver the fuel. In Kuwait, the oil business is controlled by the state, and Halliburton has claimed that government officials there pressured it into hiring Altanmia, which had no experience in fuel transport. Yet a previously undisclosed letter, dated May 4, 2003, and sent from an American contracting officer to Kuwait's oil minister, plainly describes the decision to use Altanmia as Halliburton's own "recommendation."